Wallisdown Consultation 2018
Update 12 December- Consultation Summary now online New road changes and ideas I suggested to the consultation that closed 03 August. This will be the first joint Council design that will be finalised in next few months. I have invited engineers to the Cycle forum 04 September to discuss plans and you are welcome to attend too. The most aware of you will now have seen that BCP Council is now sending social media alerts on roadworks from both Poole and Bournemouth, as I write today there is road re-surfacing going on in Fern Barrow which was notified by both Councils. In exactly the same neighbourhood the scheme Im writing about today is the first major change to road environment we will see made by joint Council, made noteworthy by it being one of the most trafficked roads in the conurbation. An east -west corridor that lies exactly on the border of both Councils. Ive written about the East -West difficulties before and despite being 4 years since I formulated Poolemouth my bike routes still work exactly the same to counter the queueing seen every single day here. What I submitted to consultation is in brackets – details and photos below So the (South side of Wallisdown road, from Uni rbout, all way to opposite Alton Road= already wide grassed area , ideal for bi directional cycle track), with pavement along inside, better designers could make a protected cycle lane like Castle Lane west work. There are trees but only one Oak that is likely TPO status, tarmacing around and leaving one tree there shouldnt be impossible. This side of the road has a couple of entrances to Fern Barrow estate. The Bus stop is difficult but as the road speed is so slow unlikely to make difference to road journey times. Photos show western direction emerging from existing underpass track at roundabout onwards. All photos with bike laid on pavement give relative width indications Opposite Alton Road Junction:- Then run same track inside the hedge on Wallisdown playing field, to join Talbot drive/ existing infra.) Photos show the desire lines well established and even if impossible to add a tarmaced surface a gravel track would greatly enable the many daily journeys and initiate others. Wallisdown Recreation fields host lots of BU student activities and are a route for many families to Talbot Combined Primary, this cut through also leads to the Bourne Valley Greenway at bottom of first Alder Hills road. It also wouldn’t be necessary to have a pedestrian pavement alongside the road southside next to the hedge with this innovation . (Whole road on this same section move south by 2 metres and widen northern pavement for pedestrians/ bikes shared track.) What i mean here is to just widen the Northern Pavement on its entire length, so the running lanes of road move south, this space given back by removal of the pavement shown above, and on the western end given back by the large width of grass and small trees. There would be fewer people making shorter journeys on this northern side of the road from the estate, as opposed to the south side users from the University and further east. Of course distance commuters travelling Eastbound from Mountbatten Arms wont benefit from the northern short section but are likely to be the type of road user that wont enter and leave cycleways anyhow. My most progressive suggestion is below, dealing with what actually happens every day, a nasty narrow junction mouth which is constantly used as cut through removed. London talks about ‘traffic evaporation schemes’ -the idea being by removing rat runs and making areas attractive to walking and cycling the possibility of making very short motor journeys becomes so unattractive as to stop them- I welcome comments from readers on this. (Alton road modal filter closed to motor traffic to encourage local families to walk/ cycle to St Marks, Talbot, Bishop Aldhelms schools, and also to make housing area originating/ terminating journey routes only- many cars use Alton/ Priestley as cut through to Columbia rd.) (Kinson rbout needs total redesign for cycling / walking improvements perhaps like Tuckton? with single lane entry on all 4 arms) Here I couldnt contribute in detail, after all I dont get paid for these write ups- I get paid to teach people on the roads as they exist today- not as we can dream them. Dreams do become reality with vision and leadership. By the way interested readers may like to know that Tuckton Roundabout whilst being in some ways still remedial was the first ever roundabout in U.K to have 4 arms of parallel cycle/ walking crossings according to Phil Jones